Inhofe is best known for his categorical claim that global warming is “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people” — a rhetorical flourish he recently refined by likening climate change theories to Nazi propaganda. And here’s the scary part: Those are the sentiments of our chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee. It’s a bit like making Lyndon LaRouche the American Ambassador to England.

But that’s not the half of it. As far back as 1972, he called for Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern to be “hanged with Jane Fonda” for referring to alleged atrocities committed by American troops in Vietnam. In 2001, he took to the Senate floor to announce that Israel was justified in whatever treatment it handed out to Palestinians because, after all, God had promised the Jews the land they occupied. For good measure, he also called Palestinian terror bombers practitioners of “satanic evil,” and intimated to the New Republic that both Bill and Hillary Clinton were out to assassinate him.

And then there was the recent debate over the latest constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, when Inhofe assured Senate colleagues of his own virility and that of his manly forbearers. “My wife and I have been married 47 years. We have 20 kids and grandkids. I’m really proud to say that in the recorded history of our family, we’ve never had a divorce or a homosexual relationship.” It’s the same flawless gene pool that produced a man who thinks our situation in Iraq is “nothing short of a miracle.”

just a quibble — Inhofe is actually America’s dumbest Senator — a Senator is a bigger post than a Congressman, as there are two per state, whereas Congressmen are divvied up by state population (so there are 100 Senators, and 435 Congressman — so it’s easier for a twit like Inhofe to get heard I guess 😉

Ben, I actually agree with you. McKinney’s an airheaded woman who can’t seem to think straight. As a result, McKinney should be rated #4 and Hayworth #5.

I’m not sure if I really agree that Boxer should be on this list, though.

Dano, in response to this:

“They’ve almost surely had many more chances to succeed, more privilege, perks, education, parental paving-of-ways and fewer impediments to success.”

I disagree. Sure, many whites in the US have had it good. However, many have also been in a really bad position but have worked hard to get somewhere. I was going through North and South Dakota a few years ago and noticed the high level of poverty, or at least the underpriviledged state, of the people there (most of whom are rural whites). I imagine in many other states, the same applies. For any of them to get somewhere in life, it would take great effort and motivation.

Also, many blacks enjoy a fairly high status. They also are accepted at law schools (or other grad schools) with a lower GPA than whites due to “affirmative action” policies (which is really reverse discrimination, which is still discrimination and is unjust). This means that a black with, say, a 3.3 GPA could in fact unseat a white with a 3.5 GPA from a spot at a law school (as has occurred at the University of Michigan).

I enjoy your comments, and I’ve done work in SE MT, rural AL and rural AK, so I’m familiar with the argumentation in your penultimate para.

I’m not a McKinney fan. But the folk above her on the list, save for maybe Don Young the briefest scrutiny reveals that the conditions you relate in your comment don’t pertain the folk ahead of McKinney on the list.

I guess you’re right, Dano. Maybe Al Gore does have a low negro tollerance level after all. Maybe he really wants to fight global warming so that we don’t have black people moving to the northern hemisphere once the climate becomes more tollerable.

The Senate dimwits deserve greater emphasis, because dumb Senators really do speak for their entire states in a way that the representatives for a gerrymandered district do not: Hee-Haw Jeff Sessions, George Allen, both Texans (Cornyn and Bailey Hutchison). A dumb Senator is generally marked by the satisfaction of someone entirely content with his/her ignorance.

[…] Senate Environment committee. Yes, the same Senator Inhofe that Science blogs describes as “not the dumbest congressman in America, but close.” The same Senator Inhofe who famously said that global warming was, “the greatest hoax […]